Fan guard and support



Dec. 27, 1955 e. MOLARTY FAN GUARD AND SUPPORT Filed June 11, 1954 IN V EN TOR.

FAN GUARD AND UPPORT Gordon McLarty, Battle Creek, Mich.

Application June 11, 1954-, Serial No. 436,649

7 Claims. (Cl. 230259) This invention relates to improvements in a fan guard and support.

The principal objects of this invention are:

First, to provide a fan guard for effectively protecting a rotating fan and supporting the fan in various positions.

Second, to provide a novel form of fan guard which is easily and inexpensively manufactured and assembled from a minimum number of stock parts.

Third, to provide a novel fan guard which utilizes two similar pieces of rectangularly folded grid mesh material interlapped in crossed relation and secured together to enclose and support the fan.

Fourth, to provide a novel form of fan guard in which interlaced pieces of rectangularly folded grid mesh material eflectively enclose the fan and mutually reinforce each other to form a rigid support for the fan.

Other objects and advantages of the fan will be apparent from the consideration of the following description and claims.

Fig. l of the drawing represents a front elevational view of the fan guard with the fan mounted therein.

Fig. 2 is a vertical cross sectional view taken along the plane of the line in 22 in Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is an exploded perspective view of the main elements of the fan guard.

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary horizontal view taken along the plane of the line 44 in Fig. 2.

The fan guard comprises two generally rectangular body elements of grid mesh material and for convenience in description one body member 1 may be designated as the vertical body member and the other body member 2 may be designated as the horizontal body member. The body members 1 and 2 are desirably identical in size as this effects considerable savings in material and in time in the formation of the body members. However, one body member may be larger than the other and still achieve many of the advantages of the fan guard illustrated. The body members 1 and 2 are rectangularly folded to provide a front panel or surface 3, end panels or surfaces 4 and divided back panels or surfaces 5 with the adjacent edges 6 of the divided back panels spaced apart by a distance approximately equal to the size of the mesh in the grid mesh material. The vertical member 1 is mounted telescopically within the horizontal body member 2 and in the front panel of the body member the vertical bars 7 of the body members are in overlapped relation so as to appear as a single thick bar when viewed from the front. It is pointed out that rotating one body member 90 to fit into the other body member brings the vertical bars of the two members into adjacent abutting relation between the horizontal bars 8 of the outer member and the horizontal bars 9 of the inner member. The width of the body members 1 and 2 is less than the length of the body members by a distance approximately equal to twice the size of the grid mesh in the material so that the ends of each body member project beyond the sides of the other body member by a Sates Patent 0 distance approximately equal to the size of one grid mesh. This leaves open corners in each corner of the guard as is indicated at 10.

At the back of the guard the divided back wall 5 of the horizontal body member is lapped over the outside of the vertical body member and desirably the outer panels 5 are drawn together slightly in order to lap the vertical bars 11 thereof along the laterally inner sides of the corresponding vertical bars 12 of the back panels of the inner body member. The horizontal bars 8 of the horizontal body member are therefore lapped along the outside of vertical bars 11 and 12 while the horizontal bars 9 of the vertical member are lapped along the in side of the vertical bars 11 and 12. The overlapped side by side relation of the vertical bars 11 and 12 prevents lateral displacement of one body member with respect to the other. In order to keep the back panels of the body members in interlaced relation there is provided an inner clamp plate 13 and an outer clamp plate 14 that are positioned on the inner and outer sides of the back wall of the guard. The plates 13 and 14 are drawn and clamped together by a plurality of self threading screws 15. Part of the screws 15 are positioned with their shanks engaged with the sides of the horizontal bars 7 and 8 to prevent vertical displacement of the clamp plates with respect to the body members. Other screws 16 project through the inner clamp plate 13 to engage and support the bosses 17 on the back of the electric fan motor 18. The fan motor and fan 19 carried thereby are thus firmly supported within the generally rectangular guard.

A U shaped clip 29 is clamped between the upper ends of the clamp plates by the upper screw 21 and connects a suspension ring 22 to the top of the guard. The fan and guard is therefore adapted to be suspended or to rest on any of the flat surfaces of the guard to direct the fan in any direction. Desirably but not necessarily the adjacent vertical bars 7 in the front of the guard are secured together at one or more points by solder as at 23.

The mutual reinforcing action of one body member on the other and the double strength of the rear wall of the guard where the body members overlap permits the body members to be fabricated from relatively light and inexpensive grid mesh material. At the same time the fan is effectively supported and protectively surrounded by the guard which offers little obstruction to the stream of air projected from the fan. No attempt has been made to disclose all possible variations or modification of the fan and guard which may fall within the scope of the following claims but it is here briefly noted that the advantages of ease and economy of assembly of the guard may be obtained with any rigid bendable material that is perforated sufiiciently to pass the desired amount of air. The body members are not limited to rectangular grids of crossing wires although such grids are a convenient and economical form of perforate material. A wide variety of ornamental designs may be produced in the front and back walls of the guard by overlapping perforate strips having various shapes of perforations.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed to be new and what is desired to be secured by Letters Patent is:

1. In combination with a motor having a fan mounted thereon, a guard for said fan comprising, strips of identical rectangular grid mesh, said strips being folded into rectangular shape with front and end surfaces and divided back surfaces terminating in edges spaced apart about the width of one grid of the mesh, one rectangularly folded strip being fitted telescopically within the other and at right angles thereto with the grid mesh of the front surfaces in registering overlapping relation, the back surfaces of one strip being offset with respect to the other strip to overlap the interior grid bars of the overlapped surfaces in coplanar. side by side relation and with the external grid bars inspaced overlapped relation on opposite sides of the interior grid bars, inner andou'ter clamping plates lapped along the inner and outer sides of said overlapped back surfaces, screws -holding said clamping plates together, part of said screws being engaged with the sides of said exterior grid bars to prevent relative displacement of said overlapped surfaces, said motor having mounting bosses engaged with said inner plate to support said motor and fan within said guard, and a suspension ring connected to said guard.

2. in combination with a motor having a fan mounted thereon, a guard for said fan comprising, strips of identical rectangular grid mesh, said strips being folded into rectangular shape with front and end surfaces and divided back surfaces, one rectangularly folded strip being fitted within the other and at right angles thereto with the grid mesh of the front surfaces in registering overlapping relation, inner and outer clamping plates lapped along the inner and outer sides of overlapped back surfaces of said strips and screws holding said clamping plates together, part of said screws being engaged with the sides of grid bars of said overlapped bac'k surfaces to prevent relative displacement of said overlapped surfaces, said motor having mounting bosses engaged with part of said screws to support said motor and fan within said guard.

3. In combination with a motor having a fan mounted thereon, a guard for .said fan comprising, strips of grid mesh, said strips being folded into tubular shape with front and end surfaces and divided back surfaces, one folded strip being interlapped with the other and at right angles thereto with the grid mesh of the front surfaces in registering overlapping relation, inner and outer clamping plates lapped along the inner and outer sides of the overlapped back surfaces of said strips and screws holding said clamping plates together, part of said screws being engaged with the sides of the grid bars of said strips to prevent relative displacement of said overlapped surfaces, said motor being engaged with said inner plate to support said motor and fan Within said guard.

4. Incornbination with a motor having a fan mounted thereon, a guard for said fan comprising, strips of grid mesh, said strips being folded into tubular shape with front and end surfaces and back surfaces, one folded strip being interlapped with the other and at right angles thereto, inner and outer clamping plates lapped along the inner and outer sides of the overlapped back surfaces of said strips, and screws holding said clamping plates together, said motor being engaged with said inner plate to support said motor and fan Within said guard.

5. in combination with a motor having a fan mounted thereon, a guard for said fan comprising, strips of grid mesh, said strips being folded into tubular shapes having front, end and back walls, said tubular shapes being interlapped in crossed relation, means clamping the overlapped back walls of said shapes together, and means connecting said motor to the back walls of said shapes with said fan enclosed by said shapes.

6. A guard for a fan comprising, strips of self supporting perforate material, said strips being folded into tubular shapes having front, end and back walls, said tubular shapes being interlapped in crossed relation with the ends of one shape projecting beyond the sides of the other shape, and means clamping the overlapped front and back walls of said shapes together, the means connecting the back walls of said shapes being adapted to support a fan enclosed by said shapes.

7. A guard for a fan comprising, strips of self supporting perforate material, said strips being folded into tubular shapes having front, end and back Walls, said tubular shapes being interlapped in crossed relation, and means clamping the overlapped back walls of said shapes .together, the means connecting the back walls of said shapes being adapted to support a fan enclosed by said shapes.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 418,620 King Dec. 31, 1889 2,345,516 Weber Mar. 28, 1944 2,622,793 Ganger et a1. Dec. 23, 1952 

